A lot of people have been posting requests for fanfics to the list
lately. This list is not the Lost Fanfiction Hotline, people. While we
admins are generally willing to overlook this sort of thing if it
doesn't happen too often,.please remember that the purpose of this
mailing list is for authors to get feedback from readers. Check
elsewhere first; try posting to RAAF, to fanfiction.net, or even sending
private email to individuals who are knowledgeable in the genre of the
fic you want to find before you send your request out to all three
thousand or so list subscribers. If fanfic requests become too frequent,
we will have to come down hard on the people who are making them.

The following excerpt from the FAQ explains this in more detail:



* WHEN IS IT PERMISSIBLE TO POST A REQUEST FOR A FANFIC?

  Fic requests are a technically forbidden, but, in practice allowed
  aspect of the FFML.  This is mainly because a ban on all fic requests
  would be needlessly authoritarian--sometimes, posting to  the FFML in
  search of a fic really is the last resort.

  However, a great deal of fanfic requests are unnecessary, and create
  needless trash on the mailing list.  This section clarifies what 
  future policy towards fic requests will be, in an attempt to lower the
  volume of unnecessary requests and the SPAM threads created by them.

  Fic requests tend to fall into four general categories:

  1)  Genuine Last Resorts

    The author has no web site.  They don't respond to e-mails.  If they
    do, their hard drive has crashed, and they don't have a copy of the
    fic.  The FFML Archive shows no trace of it.

    In this instance, posting a fic request to the FFML is acceptable.
    Please make a genuine attempt -- checking web sites and e-mailing 
    the author at the very least -- to find the fic without resorting to
    a FFML post.  Specify, as you always should with fic requests, that
    people should reply to you privately.

  2)  General Requests

    Classically, this is the request for "any fanfics where Ryoga and 
    Ukyo are a couple" or any other similar such thing.  There are 
    generally two reasons for making requests like this -- either you're
    interested in reading a fanfic of this type, or you want to see if 
    the idea you've got has already been written.

    Requests like these are discouraged, as there are other methods to 
    find them--the prime one being to read a lot of fanfics.  You can 
    also ask on a newsgroup such as rec.arts.anime.fandom, or, if you 
    have on-line friends who are also into fanfic, ask them.

    If you do post requests like this, don't do it frequently.  And, of
    course, ask for private replies.

  3)  "I Can't Remember the Name"

    It's a fanfic you read half of on a forgotten web page several 
    months ago.  Ranma was in it.  And Predator.  And Bun-Bun, from 
    "Sluggy Freelance".  But the page is gone, and you can't remember 
    what the fanfic was called, or who the author was.

    Like general requests, these are discouraged, and the same methods
    outlined under general requests can be used to attempt to find them.
    If those don't work, be as detailed as possible in posting your 
    requests to the FFML, don't do it frequently, and ask for private 
    replies.

  4)  Simple Laziness

    You were off the FFML for a week, and would like everyone who wrote
    a Sailor Moon fanfic that wasn't WAFFy to send it to you. Sure, you
    could use the author database or the archives to look for them, but
    you don't want to take the time.  Or you deleted a fic and then saw
    C&C that made you interested in it, but can't be bothered to write 
    to either the author or the person making the commentary to ask for
    a copy.

    Requests like these should never appear on the FFML.  Asking for 
    private replies won't cut it here--people posting fic requests 
    spawned from an unwillingness to make a little extra effort will be
    warned, or possibly even tempbanned.

  No matter what the type of request, ALWAYS make replies to fic 
  requests privately, even if the author does not request it.  Do not 
  post them to the FFML.  If the author of a fic request finds himself 
  or herself deluged with e-mail, he/she can post a short notification 
  to the FFML that the request has been filled.

  If you are also interested in the fic requested, write to the person
  making the request and ask him/her to pass on any information received
  to you.  Do not post such a request to the FFML.



-Gary Kleppe, FFML Moderation Team
-A request? Yes, I'd like to hear the "Refrain From Fanfic Requests."
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